Pondering the Things Doing On.
Dad's back in the ER this evening, making it his second trip in as many nights. Not good.
Have a thought for him.
The Doings On
Well, potential snag on the lifeguard front. It seems when I signed up that they are short two students. Hopefully they'll square that up or run the class anyway. In any case, I should noodle around the googleverse to see if I can find a backup.
This morning I talked about Pearl Harbor and the early phase of the Pacific War up to Midway. I didn't do my usual tactical lectures, in fact I find, as I was told I would, that it is best not to do them. The students are militantly resistant to learning that material. Granted, you have some gamers and military history buffs that like that stuff but you can count them on one hand, maybe one and a half hands. The rest of the students will zone completely out.
Conversely, last semester in Western Civ when I talked about Roman Marriage, they perked right up. Well, all except for the students who were more interested in learning about scutums, the gladius, and the pilum.
I assigned material up to Civil Rights but I suspect I will not get to lecture on it. The pop quizes chewed up a lot of time in that class. I won't make that mistake next semester. It doesn't seem to do anything to push them to perform better on their exams.
In my evening class and the other two day classes we are moving into the Civil War. Again I'll refrain from tactical lectures for the most part. It just doesn't seem to get an instructor anywhere.
I have to admit, I get pretty disgusted about this. I have to use an imaginary cat to illustrate what it means to "outflank" someone or some unit. And God forbid you start using terms like enfilade and defilade fire.
That said, I've got pretty good classes this year. However, I've got one class that just can't seem to get with it. I don't know what the malfunction is. Time of day maybe? Personality mix is off? Who knows?
Then I get other classes where the students are dialed in, responsive, even excited to be there. I am not doing anything particularly different from class to class. So it causes some headscratching.
In any case, a week and a half to go before lectures are over. Then we move to finals.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Have a thought for him.
The Doings On
Well, potential snag on the lifeguard front. It seems when I signed up that they are short two students. Hopefully they'll square that up or run the class anyway. In any case, I should noodle around the googleverse to see if I can find a backup.
This morning I talked about Pearl Harbor and the early phase of the Pacific War up to Midway. I didn't do my usual tactical lectures, in fact I find, as I was told I would, that it is best not to do them. The students are militantly resistant to learning that material. Granted, you have some gamers and military history buffs that like that stuff but you can count them on one hand, maybe one and a half hands. The rest of the students will zone completely out.
Conversely, last semester in Western Civ when I talked about Roman Marriage, they perked right up. Well, all except for the students who were more interested in learning about scutums, the gladius, and the pilum.
I assigned material up to Civil Rights but I suspect I will not get to lecture on it. The pop quizes chewed up a lot of time in that class. I won't make that mistake next semester. It doesn't seem to do anything to push them to perform better on their exams.
In my evening class and the other two day classes we are moving into the Civil War. Again I'll refrain from tactical lectures for the most part. It just doesn't seem to get an instructor anywhere.
I have to admit, I get pretty disgusted about this. I have to use an imaginary cat to illustrate what it means to "outflank" someone or some unit. And God forbid you start using terms like enfilade and defilade fire.
That said, I've got pretty good classes this year. However, I've got one class that just can't seem to get with it. I don't know what the malfunction is. Time of day maybe? Personality mix is off? Who knows?
Then I get other classes where the students are dialed in, responsive, even excited to be there. I am not doing anything particularly different from class to class. So it causes some headscratching.
In any case, a week and a half to go before lectures are over. Then we move to finals.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri